GRAMMY-winning guitarist Tommy Emmanuel released Living In The Light, his first solo album in ten years. Recorded and mixed with producer Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, Phish), Living in the Light is a virtuosic blend of acoustic pop, jazz, classical, and roots music delivered by one of the modern era’s most accomplished and versatile guitarists.
The album release arrives with the official video for Emmanuel’s rendition of the Sharon O'Neill hit “Maxine,” which “finds Emmanuel channeling his virtuosity into something more personal… [he] masters his instrumental arsenal” (American Blues Scene). Widely acclaimed for his instrumental acoustic guitar work, Emmanuel reveals his rarely-seen talents on “Maxine,” taking on lead vocals and performing both electric guitar and bass.
Tomorrow, October 11, Emmanuel will kick off a national tour in support of the album at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, followed by performances in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York City’s Carnegie Hall on October 30 with Richard Thompson. Find a full list of tour dates below or visit his website.
Watch the Official Video for Tommy Emmanuel’s “Maxine”
Stream/Purchase Living In The Light
“This song was a big hit in Australia in the 80s,” says Emmanuel. “It’s the story of a young prostitute who is playing with fire in her life. The storyteller wants to understand and help her. The composer, Sharon O’Neil, is an old friend with a gift for storytelling.”
Emmanuel captured most of the performances on Living in the Light in one or two takes, and the sense of joy and wonder in these sonic explorations is more than just palpable; it’s intoxicating. While many of the recordings are solo instrumentals, Emmanuel lends his voice to several of the album’s tracks as well, grounding his dazzling, percussive fretwork with a poignant dose of warmth and vulnerability.
“There are elements of rockabilly, blues, even traditional African music all woven into the music,” Emmanuel explains. “I’m a world traveler, and I’ve absorbed so much music along the way. It all gets synthesized through a kind of osmosis into my psyche and my soul and then comes out in my own unique style.”
About Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel first began touring at the age of six in his native Australia as part of a family band. In his teenage years, he turned heads as a highly sought-after session player and sideman, and by his early twenties, Emmanuel was playing on chart-topping hits and performing with some of the biggest names in Australian music, including Air Supply and Men at Work.
Inspired in part by his hero, Chet Atkins (who would later become a friend, mentor, and collaborator), Emmanuel stepped out on his own as a solo artist in 1979, releasing the first in a string of critically and commercially acclaimed instrumental albums that would make him an unlikely celebrity in his home country and beyond.
In the decades that followed, he would go on to headline everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall; tour with the likes of Eric Clapton and John Denver; win a GRAMMY Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement; perform for a televised audience of more than two billion at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics; and collaborate with everyone from Les Paul and Mark Knopfler to Joe Walsh and Richard Thompson.
NPR’s World Café declared him “one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world,” while The New York Times hailed him as a “prodigy,” and Atkins crowned him with the title of Certified Guitar Player (an honor only ever bestowed upon four other artists).
Emmanuel continued to push himself throughout his career, relocating permanently to Nashville in the early 2000s and collaborating with a rising generation of guitarists like Jason Isbell, Molly Tuttle, and Billy Strings on his latest studio albums, Accomplice One and Accomplice Two.
“Those albums were a real labor of love,” Emmanuel explains, “and I was thrilled with how they came out. But I felt a strong desire to focus on my writing again after that, and I found that the songs for Living in the Light just started pouring out of me.”
More than sixty years into his storied career, Tommy Emmanuel is still hungry for adventure. “As I get older, I find myself taking a lot more risks, and having a lot more fun in the process,” says Emmanuel, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday. “When young people come to my shows and have this awakening that it’s okay to be different, that the possibilities of music and self-expression are limitless, that’s what it’s all about for me.”
Tracklist:
Young Travelers
A Drowning Heart
Scarlett’s World
Gdańsk
Maxine
Little Georgia
Initiation 25
Black and White to Color
Waiting for the Times to Get Better
You Needed Me
Ya Gotta Do What You Gotta Do
US Tour Dates:
Oct 9–12, 2025 – Tommy Emmanuel’s Guitar Camp USA: Nashville Skyline 2025 – Nashville, TN
Oct 11, 2025 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN (with special guest John Pizzarelli)
Oct 14, 2025 – The Kentucky Theatre – Lexington, KY
Oct 15, 2025 – Cahn Auditorium – Evanston, IL
Oct 16, 2025 – McCoy Center for the Arts – New Albany, OH
Oct 17, 2025 – Clyde Theatre – Fort Wayne, IN
Oct 18, 2025 – The Palladium at The Center for the Performing Arts – Carmel, IN
Oct 19, 2025 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Detroit, MI
Oct 21, 2025 – Lincoln Theatre – Washington, DC
Oct 22, 2025 – Appell Center for the Performing Arts – Strand Theatre – York, PA
Oct 23, 2025 – Keswick Theatre – Glenside, PA
Oct 24, 2025 – Tarrytown Music Hall – Tarrytown, NY
Oct 25, 2025 – University of Rhode Island Guitar and Mandolin Festival – South Kingstown, RI
Oct 26, 2025 – Tupelo Music Hall – Derry, NH
Oct 28, 2025 – The Wilbur Theatre – Boston, MA
Oct 29, 2025 – State Theatre New Jersey – New Brunswick, NJ
Oct 30, 2025 – Carnegie Hall – New York, NY (with Richard Thompson)
Dec 3, 2025 – Rose State College Performing Arts Center – Oklahoma City, OK
Dec 4, 2025 – Majestic Theatre – Dallas, TX
Dec 5, 2025 – Charline McCombs Empire Theatre – San Antonio, TX
Dec 6, 2025 – Cullen Performance Hall – Houston, TX
Dec 7, 2025 – The Paramount Theatre – Austin, TX
Dec 9, 2025 – The Hall – Little Rock, AR
Dec 10, 2025 – Dixie Center for the Arts – Ruston, LA
Dec 12, 2025 – Mars Music Hall – Huntsville, AL
Dec 13, 2025 – The Lyric Theatre – Birmingham, AL
Dec 14, 2025 – Niswonger Performing Arts Center – Greeneville, TN
Mar 13–20, 2026 – Cayamo Cruise – Miami, FL
Mar 22, 2026 – Key West Theater – Key West, FL
Mar 23, 2026 – The Parker – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Mar 25–29, 2026 – Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea XI – Miami, FL
Apr 8, 2026 – Uptown Theater – Kansas City, MO (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 10, 2026 – Paramount Theatre – Denver, CO (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 11, 2026 – Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah – Salt Lake City, UT (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 12, 2026 – The Egyptian Theatre – Boise, ID (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 14, 2026 – Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox – Spokane, WA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 15, 2026 – Tower Theatre – Bend, OR (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 17, 2026 – The Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 18, 2026 – Elsinore Theatre – Salem, OR (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 19, 2026 – Rogue Theatre – Grants Pass, OR (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 21, 2026 – Cascade Theatre – Redding, CA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 22, 2026 – Crest Theatre – Sacramento, CA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 23, 2026 – Rio Theater – Santa Cruz, CA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 24, 2026 – Palace of Fine Arts Theatre – San Francisco, CA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 25, 2026 – The Grove of Anaheim – Anaheim, CA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 26, 2026 – Fremont Theater – San Luis Obispo, CA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 28, 2026 – The Magnolia – San Diego, CA (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 29, 2026 – Ikeda Theatre – Mesa, AZ (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
Apr 30, 2026 – Fox Tucson Theatre – Tucson, AZ (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
May 1, 2026 – KiMo Theatre – Albuquerque, NM (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
May 3, 2026 – Cox Business Center – Legacy Hall – Tulsa, OK (w/ special guest Jack Schneider)
